Jungle of the Heart
by Satashi
Summary: Kish and Ichigo are in a forest after a battle. With no energy to teleport, the two are stuck together long enough to sort out their feelings if they don't kill each other first. Kishigo pairing
1. Sunrise

Sometimes life was really good for you, randomly granting you a vacation with your friends to get away from everything. Luckily for me, the gods of fate decided to smile upon me for a few days, giving me and all my friends three days and two nights at a lovely little log cabin in the woods on the fat side of Japan. Of course it took us almost two days of driving to get here, but I think it was well worth it.

**Jungle of the Heart**

**By: **

**Satashi**

Looking out the window of the log cabin, I smiled. It was nice and warm inside, and the mug of hot chocolate in my hands felt extra nice. We were currently staying with Mint's Uncle, who owned most of the land around here and watched over it. He was a forester, so he knew a lot about the surrounding area. When a break came up in all of our college classes, he didn't hesitate to call up Mint and invite her and all of her friends to come stay in this cabin.

It was a nice place, surrounded by trees with nice crisp clean air. We were on a mountain side with a river running along the bottom of it that ran for several miles. It was actually a white water rafting course as well. The upper part at least, when it neared the part where the water went between two mountains, it got too dangerous because of a waterfall.

"Are you coming or what?" Mint asked me, leaning over my shoulder.

"Coming for what?" I looked over at her and blinked.

"We're all going on a hike, remember? We're all waiting on you!"

"Oh, that's _now_?" I quickly got up and sat my mug down on the coffee table next to me. "My bad, yeah, let's go." Noticing that she was already walking out the door, I jogged the rest of the way to meet up with her. "Hey! Wait up you little snob!"

* * *

It was a little chilly outside, colder than normal since we were in the mountain area. All of the leaves were changing colors and starting to fall, giving everything a really pretty look. So far we have been hiking for almost an hour. My legs were only just starting to feel a small amount of strain on them, mainly because my cat genes kept me in such good shape. Smiling, I walked on; staying just behind Mint's Uncle Thomas and listening to him point out random things and talk about them.

So far I had learned that there were several types of bears around this area, as well as many other types of wildlife. Fortunately for us, they all stayed at the bottom of the mountain areas mainly. Still, the fact that Thomas was carrying an issued rifle on his back 'Just in case' made me feel just a little uneasy.

Finally reaching the top of our particular mountain, we all gathered around to stand on the large, decently flat surface of it. "This here is a popular site for couples to come to an' eat dinner." Thomas spoke to us in his heavy Osaka accent. "Been waiting for a while to show it to you girls. What'cha think ladies?"

"I think it's kind of boring, myself." Turning, I looked up into the sky. Pai, Tart, and Kish were all hovering in the air, looking down at us. "I see this kind of view all the time since I can fly."

"Kish!" What was he doing here? Opening my mouth to shout out at him, I was cut off by Pai.

"There seems to be no particular energy signature around this area." He spoke, looking into some sort of hand held device. "There is no Mew Aqua."

"Oh man, this bites. I thought we would get one today, too." Tart's shoulders sagged. "I swear, making us come all this way for nothing."

"It was your decision to follow us on our vacation!" I pointed up at him. "So don't complain, you little midget!"

His eye twitched. "I told you not to call me that, you old hag!" Raising his hand, he formed a parasitic alien in it. "I'm going to blast you clean off this mountain!"

"Tart! There's no reason to waste energy today!"

"I don't care, Pai! Go! Chimera Anima!" He threw the parasite down and I could only watch as it rammed into a woodpecker.

Gasping out, I watched the small bird start to mutate and transform into a chimera. Mint's Uncle took the gun from his back and raised it up, only to find Pai in front of him. "You are not needed on the battle field. Sleep." He waved his fan in front of Thomas' face, instantly making the older man pass out.

"Girls! Let's battle!" I ran forward to the beast and felt myself transform as I did so. Jumping up, I landed a clean jump kick to the animal's check area. The bird, however, simply shrugged it off and flapped its wings, sending me flying back by the force of the wind generated.

"Oops. Got you!" Kish spoke into my ear, arms wrapping around my waist. He had caught me in the air. "Well then, I think you owe me a kiss for that."

"Dream on, elf boy!" I grabbed his hands and pushed hard. Forcing them down, I got enough slack to pull myself upwards out of his hold. Twisting myself, I wrapped my legs around his head and flipped down, sending him crashing hard into the ground. Landing easily next to him, I grinned. "How was _that_?"

"_Almost_ worth it," Kish replied, coughing on some dust. "Pink. Should have guessed."

Realizing what he meant, I blushed and tried to kick him. He grabbed me foot and yanked on it, sending me off balance and making me fall. Landing, I pushed up with my hands and lashed my other foot out, making him let go. Kish twirled around, however and swung one of his nightsticks downward, clipping my shoulder.

Grunting in pain, I realized it was slightly dislocated from the move. "That hurt, you know." I complained, forming my bell in my hand.

"Sorry 'bout that." He slashed again, trying to knock my bell out of my hands. Side stepping, he flew past me and I used the moment to trip him. Kish fell down and I looked over to the side to see how everyone else was fairing. Zakuro already had the Chimera Anima mostly beaten while the other girls were taking on Tart and Pai.

"You're not paying attention!" Kish yelled, one again hitting my arm. Screaming out, I actually _felt_ my shoulder joint pop out from its socket.

"Straw berry _check_!" I put my bell in his face, knocking him back from it. The blast shot around Kish and blew the dirt from where he was standing. A large semi-transparent shield was in front of him, generated by Kish's hands, which were straight out in front of him.

We both started to pant from keeping the attack going after a few moments. Sometimes it seemed my attack would break through his barrier while other times it seemed that his energy shield would overpower my blast. Finally his knees gave out at the same time I could no longer hold up the bell with only one hand.

Seeing the attack die, Kish quickly stood up and ran to me. Too weak to do anything, I was tackled hard. We rolled on the ground for a moment before I managed to get my foot on his stomach and push. His hand stayed around me, though and when I kicked him off, I was pulled too.

My stomach lurched when I suddenly realized that I was pulled off the side of the small mountain top. I free fell for almost three seconds before hitting the ground hard and starting to roll down. I tried to stop myself, but every time I almost seemed to get enough momentum to put my legs in front of me, I would hit a rock and once again slide down the loose gravel and dirt.

Kish shouted out as he hit a larger rock. He stopped momentarily, and tried to stand. I grabbed for him to stop myself as well, leading for us to both once again start sliding down.

When the water hit me, I realized that we had somehow managed to slip into the rapids that ran along the bottom. Gasping out, I was sucked underwater from the force of the current. I kicked my legs hard, but I couldn't quite seem to keep myself from going even deeper. With only one useable arm as well, I realized that I was probably going to drown.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist. Looking over, Kish was next to me. One of his hands grabbed a large rock. His eye closed and several bubbles came from his mouth as he pulled hard onto it.

My head surfaced and I took a large gasp for air, followed by Kish. The water was hitting against us hard and I felt my Mew costume disappear from the lack of energy I had left. "Kitten!" Kish screamed, getting my attention. I felt tired and sick, and my body was hurting so badly from crashing into things on both the mountain and in the water that I just wanted to sleep. "Kitten, pull up, we can get out of here!"

I could only smile at him weakly before almost blanking out. I instantly felt my hold on him get slack and I was whisked away from the sharp current so fast that if I didn't already know it would happen I would have been shocked from the suddenness of it all. Water splashed into my mouth, making me choke. It tasted fresh and clean, amazing me to know that it would be the death of me.

I began to cough, losing all the air I had left in me, spinning randomly in the rapids and hitting several things along the way. I felt something grip me again and barely managed to make out Kish once again. His eyes were wide and scared, even underwater. Had he come to rescue me? My lips turned into a small smile before everything started to grow black. His mouth opened and several air bubbles rang out...It was almost as if he was screaming my name...

* * *

I didn't feel too good when I awoke next. I was stupidly cold, and I felt something in the back of my throat. I noticed a pressure on my chest and then something pinching my nose and lips pressing against mine. Air invaded my lungs, making me cough. When I did so, I was helped to a sitting position and had my back rubbed while I coughed up water. I leaned onto whoever was helping me and shivered. Breathing hard, I was embraced and felt my arms being rubbed. I couldn't do anything but close my eyes and try to get warmed up a little bit. I felt sick and my shoulder still hurt. When he hand reached up to my shoulder, I gasped and pulled away, clinging to it.

"Oh, it's dislocated." I just then realized that it was Kish next to me. "Here, this is going to hurt." He grabbed my arm and I instantly tried to get away. "Sit still dang it!" He pressured me to the ground and gripped my arm harder, making me scream. "It's your own fault!" He put one foot on my good arm and pressed down so he was standing on it. Tears sprang to my eyes and I wanted to sob out right then and there. "Prepare yourself."

I heard a loud crack on my shoulder and instantly the blinding pain shot down to a dull throb all at once. Closing my eyes, I allowed him to help me sit up again. "There. Isn't that better?" He gently rubbed my neck, making the pain fade a little more.

"Don't...touch me...." I managed out, voice shivering in the cold. It was already cold enough outside, but now I was soaked through and the wind was blowing constantly almost.

"Che. That's a heart felt 'thank you'." He scoffed and pulled away from me. Instantly I felt even colder without him blocking the wind for me. He was probably freezing as well. "And after I saved your life and gave you C.P.R too."

"I bet you just wanted to kiss me." I hugged my knees and sneezed.

"Fine, see if I care." He looked at me. I knew it was supposed to be a mean glare, but it was more of a scared and hurt look instead. I felt bad inside seeing that look. He _had_ saved me after all. "I'm leaving."

Kish leapt backwards and faded out from view, but appeared not five feet away and collapsed onto the ground. "Kish?" I managed to get up and run awkwardly over to him. "Hey, you okay?"

He sat up and shook his head. "Well this just sucks...Keeping that shield up for so long drained all my energy. I can't teleport... probably can't fly either..."

"Well that's just peachy." I sneezed again, sniffing. "Great. I have a cold."

"We need to get dried off." Kish looked around and then stood. "Come on, let's gather some wood. Hopefully we'll be found soon. Some smoke will help as well." He paused a moment and offered me his hand to help me up. When I didn't take it at first, he looked offended. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"A little late for that," I took his hand and allowed him to help me to my feet. "I don't think I can even walk long..."

"That was you slinging us off the mountain top." He countered as we walked into the woods to look for some sort of dead branches we could burn.

"You dislocated my shoulder."

"You kicked me first."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"What, are you three years old?"

He snorted. "You started it."

"Did not."

"Did too."

I growled and walked past him. "You are such a jerk sometimes."

"What did _I_ do?" He kicked up some leaves to look under them.

"Other than ruining my vacation and trying to kill us? Oh nothing at _all_ Kish!"

"You have a real attitude problem, you know that!?" I gasped. Kish had never snapped at me like that before. "I risked my life you save you, and not even thanks! I could have let you drown you know. It would have worked out better for us. But nooooo, I just _had_ to rescue you. I even gave you mouth-to-mouth with no ill thoughts whatsoever! You have any idea how _scared_ I was that you were going to die!? The _least_ you could do is not act so hateful to me!" He threw out one of his arms in a frustrated manor. "All I ever wanted to do was make you my girl, and you _always_ reject me! I even told you I would back off from your planet for it! But you never accept me, even when I do everything I can for you!"

"Shut up Kish!" I interrupted him, closing my eyes. "Just shut up!" He was hitting on all the subjects that always confused me.

"What does it take to make you understand that I love you!?" He grabbed my shoulders. "What will it take to make you _see_ me!? Huh!?"

"Shut up!" I pulled away and started to walk. "I need to be alone." I fell to the ground and hugged my knees to try and get a little warm. "I'm scared and confused..." I knew everything he said, all to well. That's why I had to yell at him to be quiet. I already knew it. I knew he loved me, and sacrificed everything to try and buy me some time to make up my mind. What scared me was...I was almost tempted to try and get to know him more, maybe ask him on a date or something, just to see. Just to see if he really was a kind person under that warrior mask he wore. Underneath his hollow laughter and fake smile he always wore.

"Fine. I'll be around..." His voice was hurt deep, making me hug my knees some more. I listened to his footsteps as I hugged myself tightly. Sneezing again, I shivered. I was so cold it was almost hurting me. Also my mind was racing so fast I was getting a headache. Shivering again, I blew into my hands to try and warm them a little bit.

Several minutes later, Kish was finished collecting twigs and broken pieces of wood. We were in a forest currently, already forgotten which was it was back to the river from our arguing and random walking while doing so earlier. The trees weren't very crowded at all, and sometimes, like in the area we were in, there were several feet in-between each tree. The ground was dry, and hand almost no grass on it, making a safe place for a small fire.

Kish kneeled down and placed a few large rocks in square, then put several branches into the isolated area. "Hope this works..." He whispered, holding out his hand. At first nothing happened, but then I noticed a small ball of energy form at his palm. Gritting his teeth, he made it large and pressed it against the logs, slowly making them get hot enough to ignite. He looked drained after the feat, but he still managed to feed the flame enough to make it take over fully and start to blaze. After getting it stable, he stood up and walked over to me.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm cold..." I slid forward to the fire and held out my hands. Kish nodded at me and then hesitated a moment. Slowly he got behind me and sat down. Gasping, I felt him scoot forward with his legs on both sides of me. His arms then wrapped around me and pulled me close. "...Kish?"

"It'll warm you up faster," He whispered, hugging me to him. Blushing, I realized that he _was_, in fact, freezing as well. His arms were so cold they actually made mine feel a little warmer. Him staying behind me like that would make me warmer, but he would still be freezing.

"You're cold," I stated simply, rubbing his arms for him. He took in a breath to say something, but I cut him off. "Don't complain...Just enjoy it." I turned sideways so I was sitting in his lap with me legs over to his side on top of his left leg. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I rested against his shoulder. I felt his swallow and then each out his hands to try and warm them as well.

"Ne, Kish?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so kind to me?"

He didn't answer at first. When I was going to repeat myself, he finally spoke. "You know why."

I hesitated a moment before nodding lightly and resting against his shoulder again. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Being a bitch."

"Apology accepted." His voice told me that he truly accepted it, but I also knew from the sound of it that he was still hurt from the way I had acted. Deciding to make it up to him a little bit, I moved a little closer to him.

"You're comfortable." I whispered to him, making him tense up a little bit. "But I'm still a little cold...Put your arms around me?" I closed my eyes and blushed as he slowly brought his arms from reaching to the fire and placing them around me. Moving one of my hands from his neck, I placed it on top of one of his. "You're hands are big."

"I'm a guy."

"I noticed."

Looking up at him, I realized he was blushing. "Kish...?"

"Yes?"

I hesitated, and then looked away. "No, nothing." I sneezed again and leaned back against him. "I'm sleepy."

"Go to sleep then."

I shifted a little to get more comfortable. "Can I trust you?"

"Yeah." He answered immediately, then paused a moment. "Yes. Yes you can. I promise." His arms tightened around me. "I promise I won't do anything..."

For once, I actually believed him. Closing my eyes, I let out a small sigh. I was still freezing cold, but at least I was getting warmer. "I'm sorry Kish. For everything... I'll try to be a little nicer from now on."

"I'd...like that."

"Just give me some time..." I felt myself drift off to sleep. "To sort my feelings out..."

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took a while to get this one out ; been kind of busy lately. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! next chapter will be the ending, unless you guys want me to drag this one out a bit. I think my other idea for my story will be put on hold untill I get all these little ones taken care of. anyway, see you next chapter please review. .  



	2. Sunset

Waking up, I noticed that it was already morning. I realized then that I was lying down with my back to the fire and my face pressed against Kish's chest. I pulled back a little and pressed myself up with one arm. He was asleep, snoring lightly. One hand fell to my waist and I realized that I had been cuddled up to him. Blushing, I sat up and looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Finally remembering that I was in the forest, I sighed. Nobody found us last night.

**Jungle of the Heart Final**

**By: Satashi**

Looking once more to Kish, I couldn't help but smile lightly. He was actually a little cute like that. The way he curled up and mouth slightly open. I watched for a little while, content with just seeing him the way he was; not trying to fight or laugh or anything else. Just Kish in the simplest way. I smiled and sat up completely, crossing my legs. I was still a little cold, but no where as near as I was yesterday. My cloths were stiff, having air dried with only the assistance of the heat from the fire, and I was a little uncomfortable in them.

Watching him some more, I blushed when a thought ran through my head. What _would _it be like to kiss him? I leaned forward a little bit and listened to his breathing. It was smooth and steady. Swallowing, I nodded to myself. He was still asleep; he would never know. Leaning over the rest of the way, I pressed my lips against his.

His lips were chapped, rough from being in the water and then in the cold all night long. They were warm, though, and I got a small amount of comfort from them. Pulling back a little, his breath was still even and he hadn't moved any. I felt a little awkward, leaning over him like I was and even kissing him after asking him not to do anything to me while I was asleep.

Sitting back on my knees, I touched my lips. They were chapped too, and hurt a little from the warmth that was placed on hem and then taken away. Sighing I brought my hands to my arms and rubbed them. The fire was reduced to nothing more than a pile of soldering ashes. Kish must have kept good tabs on it last night for it to still be the way it was. Deciding to let him sleep some more, I started to gather some more wood pieces and place them next to our fire place.

The flame was easy enough to reclaim, as there were still hot ashes and small licks of fire at the bottom under the burnt wood. A little blowing and dry leaves later, I had a full fire once again. Sitting really close to it, I spread out my arms and warmed my front. Only after I felt too hot to be comfortable, I pulled away and went back over to Kish, laying next to him and hugging the almost shivering boy. His arms responded by instinctively pulling me closer and burying his face under my neck, resting on my chest.

Blushing, I stroked his hair to try and wake him. "Kish? Kish, wake up. Come closer to the fire." His eyes opened lightly. After a moment, he took in what was going on and pulled away quickly, muttering out an apology. I blushed a little and shook my head. "No, it's okay. I came to you. Come on," I pulled on his hand a little. "Get closer to the fire. You're freezing."

Kish nodded lightly and allowed me to guide him over to it. "No one came last night, did they?" He asked, already knowing the answer. When I shook my head, he sighed anyway and held out his hands to the flame. "I don't have enough energy back yet. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Why not?"

He looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Kitten, we're in the woods, alone, with no powers. Any animal could have came and made us dinner. I had to stay partly awake all night to make sure nothing came." He rubbed his eyes sleepily.

I blushed. If he had been trying to keep track of everything that was going on, was he awake enough to know that I kissed him? Looking over, I noticed that he was trailing a finger over his lips. "Something wrong?" I asked him, making him blink.

"I feel like I missed something important," He replied off handedly. "Like something happened that I should have been more aware of for. Weird, huh?" He gave me a small lop-sided smile.

"Uh, must have been a dream." I scratched my cheek and looked away. "Anyway, what should we do? We shouldn't be too far from the river. I bet we could find it."

"We fell into the rapids, so that's where they would search for the most, if they are looking for us." Kish stood up and stretched.

"Of course they're looking for us," I replied, a little indignant. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"Considering my allies know I can teleport back after resting, they probably aren't looking for me. As for your friends, they should know that if we didn't both die, we would be together so they are probably worried about you. However, since they will think I'm with you, they can't ask anyone else to help look in fear that I would hurt whoever found us."

"You're going to be the death of me." I sighed and looked into the flames. "I'm hungry."

"Not much we can do about that now." Kish looked around our area and sniffed. "It smells funny here. I can't get a good read on anything because of the fire we have going." He scooted a little closer to it. "Let's get warmed up and ready. Then we need to head out. We need to find the river and trace it up stream."

* * *

My feet were already hurting. We were completely lost and have been walking non-stop since the morning. More than once we had to stop and look up to try and find the sun to make sure we weren't tracing in circles. Noon came and went, and now the sun was hanging directly over us, blocked by the trees mostly. Sighing, I stopped and crouched down to rest a little bit.

"Tired?" Kish asked, stopping next to me.

"No, I 'm just crouching for no reason," I replied sarcastically. "I'm beat, Kish. I was walking all day yesterday as well." He looked around a moment and then stopped, standing still. "What are you-?"

"Shush." He held out his hand and stood perfectly still, listening. "Water. I can hear it." He pointed. "It's that way."

"Kish, just give me a moment. We won't get rescued any faster by not waiting two minutes to rest."

"I'm thirsty." He leaned over and scooped me up easily, making my squeal out in surprise. He shifted me lightly and began to walk with me in his arms. "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look."

"Well _excuse_ me!" I snorted, letting him carry me. "It's not as if _every_ guy I've met hasn't told me that or anything. I'll diet, fine!" My stomach growled at me, making me growl back at it. "Shut up, you. We're not getting any food any time soon."

Kish walked with me a while longer before we finally breached into an area that had a long stream running. Although the area was still _inside_ the forest, we at least had a marking to go by now. "Oh great," Kish complained, looking. "We were walking down stream this entire time. Figures." He sat me down next to a large rock that I could lean against and looked at the water. "Hey, Fish."

"Yeah, this must be a branch off the other one. I'm sure they'll meet somewhere. They'd have to, right?"

"I guess," he replied thinking as he looked at the calm water that was trickling along at a slow pace. The water was crystal clear and fresh. Several fish swam around in it, some splashing up against the current. "This is the time of year fish migrate up stream isn't it?" Kish asked me, watching them.

How he knew of such things amazed me, but I let it slide this time. "Yeah. To lie eggs. They're salmon."

"Roasted fish sounds really good about now." Kish licked his lips and looked around. After a moment, I watched him pick up a relatively long branch and break it over his leg.

"What are you doing?"

"Fishing." He replied calmly, picking up a rock and wedging it into the stick, making it split. He then looked around a moment before resting his eyes on me.

"What?" I shifted a little uneasily. He knelt down next to me and untied my shoe. "Hey! What are you doing that for?"

"You want to eat or not?" He countered, making me sit still. I watched him unlace my hiking boot and then sit down himself cross-legged. Amused, I saw him tie the shoe lace around the rock and stick, making the rock stay in place firmly. "See? A spear."

I was impressed. "Wow, where did you learn how to do that?"

"I didn't," He stood and walked over to the steam, kicking off his shoes before walking into the water. "Ah man, that's cold." He stood still and waited for the fish to come close to him. Stabbing down, I laughed as he missed one. "Quick little sons of..." He stabbed against and again, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere. "I swear, they're mocking me!"

I started on making another little fire, easily igniting it by striking some flint I found by the water. "I feel like a cave woman," I laughed out, blowing on the small flames enough to get it started. "Who knew paying attention in world history class would ever pay off!?"

Kish seemed to be sticking his spear in and out of the water slowly. Watching him, I noticed that his lips twitched into a smile. "The water makes it look like the spear is broken when it's inside it!" I giggled at him. I remember playing with straws in my drinks when I was little. "I got you now." Kish whispered, setting his feet. This time he left the tip of the spear in the water and waited for a fish to swim by close.

His hand twitched and when he pulled it back out, he held up the spear with a fish stabbed at the end of it. "Hey, Kitten! Look! Am I cool or what!?"

Laughing, I shook my head. "A little barbaric, but cool, yes."

* * *

Blowing on the steaming fish, I testily bit into it and spit out some scales. They were kind of burnt from crude fire cooking, but food was food, and I haven't eaten anything in almost two days now.

I watched Kish as I ate, making a small face as he just tore into his meal and spit out the bones only. After a moment, he paused and looked at me. "What is it?"

"Nothing." I went back to picking at my food. "You just surprise me sometimes."

"How so?" He tossed his stick over his shoulder and grabbed another one that was through a fish by the fire. Blowing on it a second, he began to rip into it as well.

"For being an alien on this planet, you sure do seem to fit in survival really well here."

"Of course. We have several types of survival training when scouting planets to live on. It taught me how to make weapons out of anything and scout for food and how to handle environments that came along." When he saw my surprised face, he just laughed. "What, you think we just up and decided to come here with no preparation? Of course we were trained."

"Tell me something else?"

"What?"

"Anything." I blushed a little. "I don't know. Just whatever. I want to... know a little more about you is all."

Kish looked a little surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah, I guess." I fidgeted with my meal. "Like what do you do in your spare time? Or...or just whatever."

He shifted to get a little more comfortable. "Only if you tell me more about yourself as well?"

* * *

I'm not sure how long we sat there and talked, but I knew it must have been a long time when I noticed the light was starting to fade. We had spent several hours talking to each other, sharing random things about our lives. I never knew that Kish liked to draw, or that he was picked on as a little boy. I, in turn, shared that I liked to sing with my friends and that napping was one of my main hobbies now that I had cat genes inside of me.

When it started to get night time, I felt the coldness more than before. Shivering, I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them. A moment later an arm fell across my shoulders and Kish's hand rubbed my arm a little to offer a small amount of warmth. Looking over at him, I blushed a little before scooting closer and resting my head on his shoulder. "Ne, Kish?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you like me?"

He hesitated only a second before replying. "At first you was just something new, a toy to play with... After observing you for a while, I noticed that you weren't like any other girl I've met before. You cry, fight, scream, pout, sing, frown and smile. You always wear your emotions on your sleeve, not caring about how anyone else saw you. When... When you rejected me, it only made me want you more. I guess I kind of became obsessed with trying to make you mine..."

"What would you do if I was yours?"

"...I don't know." He leaned back against the tree we were both sitting under. "It would be so hard... I would live here with you, but I know that that wouldn't stop Pai and Tart from still trying."

"It wouldn't be easy for me either. Everyone would freak out, that's for sure."

He looked down at me. "Yeah, it would only lead to trouble..."

I looked up at him and shifted lightly. "Yeah. More than it's worth..."

His face leaned closer to mine, and I closed my eyes. "So we shouldn't..."

"Even try..."

His lips met mine and I returned his kiss for the first time. Pulling back a little to take in some air, we kissed again and I felt his arms wrap around me to bring me into his lap once more.

My arms found them selves around his neck and I pulled him closer when his tongue found mine. Blushing, I let out a happy sound and felt his hands massage my back.

When we pulled apart, I was breathing a little harder than normal and could feel my face being warm against the coldness of the night. His face was red too, and his breathing was hard, playing against my lips. "We should," I swallowed and smiled up at him. "Not do that more often."

"Definitely not." He kissed me again and I felt myself being pulled down on the ground. He snuggled against me to keep me warm. "Let's get some sleep for tomorrow."

"Sounds good." I wrapped an arm over his side and curled up to him. I felt content now, happy that I finally tested my feelings for him. It would be hard, but I didn't mind. We could make it somehow, even if he had to keep fighting against us for a while. Yes, it would all work out in the end. Closing my eyes, I inhaled his scent and allowed myself to sleep.

* * *

"Ichigoooooo! Ichigo! Where are you!?"

I sat up. Looking around, I heard several people walking and then my name being called again. "Zakuro?" I asked aloud, amazed. "Zakuro!"

"I heard her!" Mint called out, and then several people were running over to me.

It was morning, and my fire had long since burned out, but they still seemed to be able to find us.

Us...

Quickly turning to my side, I found Kish gone. Placing my hand on the ground, it was still warm from his body heat. Trailing it, I then spotted a small heart drawn in the dirt. I smiled, tracing it with my finger just before all my friends burst into the little clearing where I was and hugging me.

"I missed you guys too." I told them, hugging each in turn as they fussed over me. "I'm fine, really. I promise." They helped me to my feet and I looked up into the sky, seeing Kish hovering in the air. He smiled down at me and I smiled back, blowing a small kiss up to him behind the girl's backs. He grinned, acted like he caught it, and shoved it in his pocket. Laughing, he waved and teleported off.

"What are you looking at?" Pudding asked, drawing my attention back to her.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Come on, let's go. I _really_ need a shower."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I haven't had any time to write lately. Yay for this one being done! I'm thinking of doing another long story as well. The girls in college, but being normal. And them turning into Mew Mews in college instead of when they are 13. Of course, I'll change everything around to make it original. Kish/ Ichigo, Ryou/ Ichigo, and Masaya/Ichigo pairings just like the manga. So she won't have a boyfriend at first. I'll let you pick who she ends up with, though. Polls in reviews, my fave thing to do with longer stories XD. So what do you think? Should I go for another long one or just stick with 2-3 chapter stories like this?

Here's a small teaser of what I have in mind for my new one:

* * *

Gritting my teeth, I stood up shakily and looked up in horror at the person floating in the air above me. His hair was long, flowing out in the wind around him. Eyes cold and yellow, glaring down at me solidly. Behind his right shoulder a falcon was flying, staying in place as it too looked down at me. The man's lips turned into a smile, revealing fangs in his teeth. "Nice to meet you." He spoke to me calmly, as if he hadn't just destroyed the park bench where I had just been sitting. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now." His hand slowly moved and pointed at me. "Go get her, Osiris."

The falcon shot down at me so quickly I was stunned enough to be planted where I stood. Visions of my life shot before me as it got closer. When I thought the bird's talons would rip through me, I felt my body jerk to the side and roll on the ground along with someone else. Finally stopping, I looked up to see who had saved me.

On top of me was a boy no older than me. His eyes were a clear blue and short blond hair fell around him. I could tell instantly that he wasn't Japanese. "Are you okay?" He asked me, helping me up while keeping an eye on the man in the air. His falcon was above him again, waiting for another command already.

"Th-thank you..." I held onto him lightly and looked up. "But now what are we going to do?"

"Fight back," he replied easily, now looking at me and holding up a small gun like device. "I know this isn't the right time, nor place to ask this, but I'm afraid that they found you before I did. This is a special gun," He showed it to me. "Inside it is the DNA of the Iriomote Wildcat, a red-date animal. Your genes are specific enough to merge with them. If you inject this, you will gain enough power to defeat them."

"Wha-what!?"

"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen," The man in the air spoke up, glaring. His eyes were so cold and hard. "Don't think we don't know about your experiments. I'm going to stop you before you find the people whose DNA match."

The blond haired man placed the small gun in my hand. "If you chose to, just press this onto your neck and pull the trigger. Everything will be simple after that." He then turned to glare up at the man. "I'll fight until you make up your mind."

"Like I'm given a _choice_ here!?" I screamed out, scared and confused. "Do this or die is what you're saying!"

"I know." His eyes narrowed as he crouched into a battle stance. "But we really don't have a choice. I won't be able to hold him off for long." His lips twitched into a small smile. "My name's Ryou, by the way. "Ryou Shirogane."

The man in the air pulled two nightsticks from seemingly no where. "The Name's Kish. I'll be you're executioner."


End file.
